Italian Gov’t Tells Corporate Jets To Shove Off
The costs of owing and operating a private jet, or corporate jet, are extensive. Private jets are not only costly to purchase or lease, but these aircraft also incur the costs of servicing parking, staffing, fuel, landing fees, etc, are all expensive … and now Italy plans to make it prohibitively more expensive for those flying into Italy in an effort to fill its empty coffers.
The Parliament of Italy has approved a new tax on private and corporate jets that goes beyond expensive and moves into the realm of “creating an anti-business environment” … or in layman’s terms, entering the realm of absurdity. Italy’s new tax, expected to go into effect later in the year, would tax large corporate jets as much as €300,000 for being on the ground in Italy for more than 48 consecutive hours.
While the Italian Government hopes this new tax on private aircraft will generate an estimated €39,000,000+ annually, the reality is this tax will likely force aircraft operators to drop passengers at their destinations in Italy then depart for airports outside of Italy as a cost saving measure. With flying times from Milan to Lyon, Rome to Split, Palermo to Tunis, all under an hour, positioning aircraft outside Italy while inconvenience would offer aircraft owners and lessors a considerable cost savings, even when all other costs are factored in. In the long run, aircraft can also avoid Italy’s excessive taxes by departing the airport less than 48 hours after the aircraft had arrived, fly outside of Italian airspace, then return to the airport to restart the 48 hour clock.
Italy will find itself sending revenue out of Italy, rather than bringing it in, as private aircraft will depart destination airports to be serviced, fueled and parked at airports outside of Italy. Italy’s tax is likely to be a boon for airports in France, Switzerland, Tunisia, Croatia and Austria rather than being a much needed revenue stream for the government.
The tax on aircraft will be a sliding scale, for both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. Aircraft operated by Governments, on emergency medical or humanitarian aid missions or those operated by a commercial air operator’s certificate, exempt from the tax
Happy Flying!
Maybe they should severely gut spending and big government instead of trying to maintain their current lifestyle by stealing private revenue.
What a bunch of idiots. That has such an obvious and much cheaper loophole that it will do nothing but be an annoyance. If they want to tax private jets why not just tax them for landing?
I guess you gotta keep trying to feed the mob that refuses to believe they can’t have money that doesn’t exist….
Wow! Spendy! When our first corporate jet arrives – date still unknown – I’ll tell the flight planers – still not hired, to avoid Italy. What a shame! We may have to reconsider our G650 – AGAIN!
if the tax is expected to generate 39 M eur, that means they only expect 130 plane owners to fall for this
(i know, 300k eur is the top tax and flying a smaller plane will be taxed less… hopefully) OTOH – imagine having a 100k plane and being grounded due to a storm for 2 days and having to pay 3 times the plane’s value due to this law 